Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce Part 40

After the plants are wilted on one side they are turned so that the entire plant will be in good condition to handle without breaking.

Harvesting should be performed in the most careful manner. At this time the leaves are very brittle and unless the cutter is an experienced hand much injury may be done to the leaves. The stem of each plant is severed as near as possible to the ground and afterwards if hung on lath they are divided longitudinally to admit the air and dry them sooner. When the plants are to be hung on lath they may be wilted before "stringing" or not, at the option of the grower. Most growers are of the opinion now that the plants should be harvested without wilting at all, stringing on the lath as soon as cut and carrying them immediately to the shed.

When wilted in the field there is often much damage done to the leaves whether they are sun-burnt or not. Oftentimes the ground is hot and the plants in a few hours both on the under and upper sides become very warm and almost burnt by the rays of the sun. For this reason the manner of hanging on lath is the better way and in New England is fast displacing the old method of hanging with twine. When hung in this manner five or six plants to the lath are the usual number unless they are very large. When placed or strung on the lath the plants are not as liable to sweat or pole rot, owing in part to the splitting of the stalk, which causes the rapid curing of the leaves as well as the stalk itself. A new method of hanging tobacco has been introduced of late in the Connecticut valley by means of tobacco hooks attached to the lath. This mode is considered by many growers the safest way, and by others as no better than the more common way of hanging simply on the lath.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Carrying to the shed.]

In Virginia in "ye olden time," the following method of harvesting was adopted:--

"When the plant has remained long enough exposed to the sun, or open air, after cutting, to become sufficiently pliant to bear handling and removal with conveniency, it must be removed to the tobacco house, which is generally done by manual labor, unless the distance and quant.i.ty requires the a.s.sistance of a cart. If this part of the process were managed with horses carrying frames upon their backs for the conveniency of stowage, in a way similar to that in which grain is conveyed in Spain, it would be found a considerable saving of labor. It becomes necessary, in the next place, to see that suitable ladders and stages are provided, and that there be a sufficient quant.i.ty of tobacco sticks, such as have been described to answer the full demand of the tobacco house, whatsoever may be its size; time will be otherwise lost in make-shifts, or sending for a second supply.

"When everything is thus brought to a point at the tobacco house, the next stage of the process is that termed hanging the tobacco. This is done by hanging the plants in rows upon the tobacco sticks with the points down, letting them rest upon the stick by the stem of the lowest leaf, or by the split which is made in the stem when that happens to be divided. In this operation care must be taken to allow a sufficient s.p.a.ce between each of the successive plants for the due circulation of air between: perhaps four or five inches apart, in proportion to the bulk of the plant. When they are thus threaded upon the sticks (either in the tobacco houses, or, sometimes, suspended upon a temporary scaffold near the door), they must be carefully handed up by means of ladders and planks to answer as stages or platforms, first to the upper tier or collar beams of the house, where the sticks are to be placed with their points renting upon the beams transversely, and the plants hanging down between them. This process must be repeated tier after tier of the beams, downwards, until the house is filled; taking care to hang the sticks as close to each other as the consideration of admitting air will allow, and without crowding. In this position the plants remain until they are in condition to be taken down for the next process."

In Cuba about the beginning of January the tobacco is ready for cutting. If the harvest is good, all the leaves are taken from the plants at once. Tobacco consisting of those leaves is called Temprano, or "Early Pipe." If, on the contrary, the harvest is not good, the immature leaves are left to grow. Tobacco formed of these leaves has the name of Tardio, or "Late Pipe." In every respect, appearance included, the Temprano is much superior to the Tardio. In the purchase of tobacco, it is a princ.i.p.al thing to ascertain how much or how little Temprano a parcel contains. Moreover, there are what may be called b.a.s.t.a.r.d leaves, which grow after the leaves proper have been gathered.[79] Tobacco made from these b.a.s.t.a.r.d leaves is easily recognizable, the leaves being long and narrow, of a reddish color, and a bitter taste.

[Footnote 79: Second crop, or Volunteer tobacco.]

The mode of harvesting tobacco in Virginia at present is thus described by a Virginia planter:--

"In bringing to the barn place the tobacco on scaffolds near the barn-door, so that it can be readily housed in case of rain. As Bright Wrappers and Smokers pay so much better than dark tobaccos, it is advisable, whenever practicable, to coal-cure all that ripens of a uniform yellow color. The quality of the leaf will determine the hanging: 'Shipping'

should be hung seven to nine plants to the stick four and a half feet long. To cure the plants properly requires some experience, great care, and much attention. The plants should not be 'cut' until fully ripe. Be careful in cutting to select plants of a uniform size, color, and quality, putting six or seven to the stick. Let the plants go from the cutter's hands on to sticks held in the hands of women or boys; and as soon as the sticks are full, place them carefully on wagons and carry them to the barn. Place the sticks on tiers about ten inches apart, and regulate the plants on the sticks.

"It is impossible to lay down any uniform system or give specific instructions. General principles will be suggested to guide the planter amid the changeableness of seasons and variableness of material to be operated upon."

In Turkey--

"The planters calculate always fifty-five days from May 12th, for their crops to be ready for gathering. When the leaves show the necessary yellow tips, they are carried to the house, and there threaded into long bunches by a large, flat needle, about a foot long, pa.s.sed through the stalk of each."

In Ohio the process of harvesting tobacco for cutting is thus described by a grower:--

"When thoroughly ripe, having stood two or three weeks longer than is necessary for cigar leaf, it is ready to cut.

This is done with a knife made for the purpose. It resembles a wide chisel, except that the handle and chisel are at right angles. Before cutting, the stalk is split down through the center. Being ripe, it splits before the knife, and following the grain the leaves escape unharmed. This splitting is done in as little time as is necessary to cut the stalk off in the ordinary way. Split it to within about three or four inches of the ground, and cut it off in the ordinary way with the same knife. Cut it off and hang it over one of your sticks that you have driven slanting into the ground near you. Cut and put six stalks on the stick, and then lay it down on the ground to wilt, taking the usual care to prevent sun-burn. When it is sufficiently wilted, haul to the shed and hang it up."

In the East Indian Archipelago, "as soon as the leaves are fully grown they are plucked off, and the petiole and a midrib are cut away. Each leaf is then cut transversely into strips about a sixteenth of an inch wide, and these are dried in the sun until a ma.s.s of them looks like a bunch of oak.u.m."

In Persia, when the plants are ripe they are cut off close to the root, and again stuck firmly in the ground. By exposure to the night dews the leaves change from green to yellow. When of the proper tint, they are gathered in the early morning while wet with dew, and heaped up in a shed, the sides of which are closed in with light th.o.r.n.y bushes, so as to be freely exposed to the wind.

In j.a.pan, the leaves are gathered in the height of summer. When the flowers are of a light tint, two or three of the leaves nearest the root are gathered. These are called first leaves, but produce tobacco of second quality. After the lapse of a fortnight, the leaves are gathered by twos, and from these the best tobaccos are produced. Any remaining leaves are afterwards broken off along with the stem and dried. These form the lowest quality of tobacco. After gathering, the leaves are arranged in regular layers and covered with straw matting, which is removed in a couple of days. The leaves are now of a light yellow color. They are then fastened by the stem in twos and threes to a rope slung in a smoke room, and after being so left for fourteen or fifteen days, they are dried for two or three days in the sun, after which they are exposed for a couple of nights in order that they may be moistened with dew. They are then smoothed out and arranged in layers, the stems being fastened together, pressed down with boards, and packed away in a dark room. D'Almirda says that in Java, the leaves are gathered and tied up in bundles of fifteen, twenty or thirty, and suspended from bamboo poles running across the interior of the shed, where they are left to dry for twenty days or more, according to the state of the atmosphere.

As soon as the plants have been hung in the shed the process of

CURING

begins. If fully ripe at the time of harvesting, the plants will "cure down" very fast and take on a better hue than when they cure less rapidly. During cool weather the doors and ventilators should be left open that the plants may have a free circulation of air and cure the faster. When, however, the weather is damp, they should be closed, to avoid sweating and pole rot. When a light leaf is desired, the tobacco shed should be provided with windows to let in plenty of sunlight, which has much to do with the color of the leaf. When a dark leaf is desired, all light should be excluded.

The time necessary for the curing of the plants will depend upon the ripeness of the plants as well as the weather during curing. There are three kinds or methods of curing, viz: air curing, sun curing and firing, or curing by flues. Air curing is the curing of the plants in sheds or barns. Sun curing is the process of curing in the open air, while "firing" is the process of curing by "smoke," the common method employed at the South and to some extent at the West. This is the common way of curing cutting leaf, while air curing is the manner of curing cigar leaf. Tatham, already quoted, gives the following account of the process as performed in Virginia of

"SMOKING THE CROP."

"From what has been said under the head of hanging the plant, it will be perceived that the air is the princ.i.p.al agent in curing it, but it must be also considered that a want of uniform temperature in the atmosphere calls for the constant care of the crop-master, who generally indeed becomes habitually weather-wise, from the sowing of his plants, until the delivery of his crop to the inspector. To regulate this effect upon the plants he must take care to be often among them, and when too much moisture is discovered, it is tempered by the help of smoke, which is generated by means of small smothered fires made of old bark, and of rotten wood, kindled about upon various parts of the floor where they may seem to be most needed.

"In this operation it is necessary that a careful hand should be always near: for the fires must not be permitted to blaze, and burn furiously; which might not only endanger the house, but which, by occasioning a sudden over-heat while the leaf is in a moist condition, might add to the malady of 'firing' which often occurs in the field."

In Virginia the manner of curing tobacco at the present time, is thus described by a planter.

"For curing tobacco the simplest method is sun-curing or air curing and the one most likely to prove successful. The tobacco barn should be so constructed as to contain four, five or six rooms four feet wide, so that four and a half feet sticks may fit, all alike. Log barns are best for coal curing. All should be built high enough to contain four firing tiers under joists covered with shingles or boards and daubed close. Fire with hickory all rich, heavy, shipping tobacco.

"As soon as the barn is filled kindle small fires of coals or hickory wood, about twenty fires to a barn twenty feet square, four under each room. Coal is best, but hickory saplings, chopped about two feet long, make a good steaming heat. The successful coal-curer is an artist, and all engaged in the business are experimenters in nature's great laboratory." A North Carolina planter gives an interesting account of curing tobacco yellow. "Curing tobacco yellow, for which this section is so famous, is a very nice process and requires some experience, observation, and a thorough knowledge of the character and quality of the tobacco with which you have to deal, in order to insure uniform success.

Much depends upon the character of the crop when taken from the hill. If it is of good size, well matured and of good yellowish color, there is necessarily but little difficulty in the operation. As soon as the tobacco is taken from the hill and housed, we commence with a low degree of heat, say 95 to 100 Fahr., 'the yellowing' or 'steaming' process.

This is the first and simplest part of the whole process, and requires from fifteen to thirty-six hours, according to the size and quality of the tobacco, and this degree of heat should be continued until the leaf opens a lemon color, and is nearly free from any green hue. When this point is reached, the heat should be gradually raised to 105 in order to commence drying the leaf, and here lies the whole difficulty in curing (I mean in drying the leaf). The last degree of heat indicated, should be continued five or six hours, when it should again be gradually raised to 110, when it should be maintained at this point, until the tail or points of the leaves begin to curl and dry. Indeed it will probably be safest for beginners to continue this degree of heat until one-third of the leaf is dried.

"The temperature may then be gradually increased to 115, and kept for several hours at that point, until the leaf begins to rattle when shaken, then again raise the heat to 120, at which point it should be continued until the leaf is dried, after which the temperature may be increased to 150 or 160 to dry the stem and stalks; the latter should be blackened by the heat before the curing is complete.

Ordinarily it requires from two and a half to five days to cure a barn of tobacco, dependent entirely upon the size and quality. Put seven or eight plants on each stick and place them eight inches apart on tier poles. In the yellowing process the door of the barn should be kept closed to exclude the air. When this point is reached for drying the leaf, the door may be opened occasionally, and kept open for twenty or thirty minutes at a time, especially if the tobacco gets into a "sweat," as it is called, or becomes damp and clammy.

"The temperature is raised in the barn by cautiously adding coal from time to time to the fires, which should be placed in small piles on the floor, in rows, allowing about five feet between each pile, which should at first contain a double handful of coal. In adding coal, you will soon learn the quant.i.ty necessary to be applied by the effect produced.

Avoid raising the heat hastily after the drying is commenced, lest the leaf should be scalded and reddened; on the other hand, it should not be raised too slowly for fear of 'raising the grain,' or the leaf becoming spongy and dingy. Both extremes are to be avoided, and the skill required is attained only by experience and observation. We usually cut tobacco the latter part of the week, house it and suffer it to remain until the first of next week, that we may not violate the fourth commandment."

In California tobacco is cured by the method known as the "Culp process" from the name of its patentee. When the plant lies in the field, Mr. Culp's peculiar process begins which is described as follows:

"Tobacco had long been grown in California, even before Americans came. He had raised it as a crop for fifteen years; and before he perfected his new process, he was able usually to select the best of his crop for smoking tobacco, and sold the remainder for sheep wash. One year, two millions of pounds were raised in the State, and as it was mostly sold for sheep wash, it lasted several years, and discouraged the growers. Tobacco always grew readily, but it was too rank and strong. They used Eastern methods, topping and suckering, and as the plant had here a very long season to grow and mature, the leaf was thick and very strong. The main features of the Culp process are, he said, to let the tobacco, when cut, wilt on the field; then take it at once to the tobacco house and pile it down, letting it heat on the piles to 100 for Havana. It must, he thinks, come to 100, but if it rises to 102 it is ruined. Piling, therefore, requires great judgment. The tobacco houses are kept at a temperature of about 70; and late in the fall, to cure a late second or third crop they sometimes use a stove to maintain a proper heat in the house, for the tobacco must not lie in the pile without heating. When it has had its first sweat, it is hung up on racks; and here Mr. Culp's process is peculiar.

"He places the stalk between two battens, so that it sticks out horizontally from the frame; thus each leaf hangs independently from the stalk; and the racks or frames are so arranged that all the leaves on all the stalks have a separate access to the air. The tobacco houses are frame buildings, 100x60 feet, with usually four rows of racks, and two gangways for working. On the rack the surface moisture dries from the leaf; and at the proper time it is again piled, racked, and so on for three or even four times. The racks are of rough boards, and the floor of the houses is of earth. After piling and racking for three weeks, the leaves are stripped from the stalk and put into 'hands,' and they are then 'bulked' and lie thus about three months, when the tobacco is boxed. From the time of cutting, from four to six months are required to make the leaf ready for the manufacturer. "Piling" appears to be the most delicate part of the cure, and they have often to work all night to save tobacco that threatens to overheat."

In Mexico the leaves are hung up on bast[80] strings, dried in the shade and then sent to the chief depots, where, when they have undergone fermentation, they are sorted, and tied up in bundles. In Persia, the plants are carried to the shed and heaped, and in four or five days the desired pale yellow color is further developed. The stalks and center stem of each leaf are now removed and thrown away, while the leaves are heaped together in the drying house for another three or four days, when they are fit for packing.

[Footnote 80: The inner bark of the lime-tree.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Stripping.]

In Turkey the bunches of leaves are exposed to the sun to dry, and some months' exposure is necessary before they are sufficiently matured for baling. Rain sets in at a later period, and the tobacco becoming moist and fit for handling, is then removed from the threads, and made into bundles or "hands" of about sixty leaves each and tied around the stems.

After the leaves are thoroughly cured they are in condition for

STRIPPING.

The leaves of the tobacco are easily affected by the humidity of the atmosphere and during damp weather every opportunity is improved by the grower for taking down the tobacco preparatory to stripping. After taking down from the poles the plants should be packed in order to keep moist until stripped. The tobacco should not be removed from the poles when it drips or the juice exudes from either the stalk or the leaves. If stripped in this condition the leaves are apt to stain and thus become unfit for wrappers. The operation of stripping consists in taking the leaves from the stalk and tying them in bundles or hands with a leaf around the base of the hand. Each "hand" or bunch should contain at least eight leaves and from that number to twelve. If the plants are large the leaves of one stalk will form a hand; a poor leaf is used for binding as it can not be used for the same purpose as the leaves around which it is bound.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Hands.]

The old planters of tobacco in Virginia called this operation of taking off the leaves and tying them up "stripping and bundling" which is here described.

"When the plants of tobacco which are thus hanging upon the sticks in the house have gone through the several stages of process before the time of stripping, and are deemed to be in case for the next operation, a rainy day (which is the most suitable) is an opportunity which is generally taken advantage of when the hands cannot be so well employed out of doors. The sticks containing the tobacco which may be sufficiently cured, are then taken down and drawn out of the plants. They are then taken one by one respectively, and the leaves being stripped from the stalk of the plant are rolled round the b.u.t.ts or thick ends of the leaves with one of the smallest leaves as a bandage, and thus made up into little bundles fit for laying into the cask for final packing."

Hazard gives the following method of a.s.sorting and stripping tobacco in Cuba:--

"Among the Cubans, the leaves are divided into four cla.s.ses: first, _desecho_, _desecho limpio_, which are those immediately at the top of the plant, and which const.i.tute the best quality, from the fact that they get more equally the benefit of the sun's rays by day and the dew by night; second, _desechito_, which are the next to the above; third, the _libra_, the inferior or small leaves about the top of the plant; and fourth, the _injuriado_, or those nearest the root. Of the _injuriado_ there are three qualities; the best is called _injuriado de reposo_, or 'the picked over,' and the other two, firsts and seconds (_primeros_, _sequndos_).